Lost Colony
by hColleen
Summary: The Enterprise finds a colony in the Sagittarian sector that should not be there. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Sulu, and a RedShirt beam down to investigate a world with dragons and dangers from they sky.
1. Chapter 1

Captain's log, Stardate 3784.09. We have come upon a planet that looks like an abandoned, unrecorded human colony. Three ships maintain a geosynchronous orbit, but they have been stripped of all useful components and currently have no functioning life support systems. The planet itself has negligible resources and the majority of the population is concentrated on the northern continent. Population seems to be concentrated within the mountains and caves. Also, appear to have what can only be described as flying dragons.

"Captain, observations of the planetary rogue are complete, sir." Spock was bent over his station and straightened as he spoke, his hands grasped loosely behind his back.

"Very well, Spock. What have you found?"

Without consulting his instruments, Spock recited, "The planetoid has a cometary orbit with a period of approximately two hundred fifty years. It appears to carry with it some Oort cloud material that it sheds as it approaches the sun. It has just reached the point at which the Oort material will begin to meet the atmosphere of the inhabited planet."

"Thank you, Spock. Uhura, anything?"

"No, sir, nothing on any band. There is an occassional tracking signal between the ships and what might be a ground base, but there are no lifeforms in the area and the signal is completely automated."

Kirk leaned back in his chair, humming as he turned back to the monitor. "Any estimate on how long the ships have been in orbit?"

"Based on the ship design, the colony should only be about two hundred years old, but the ships' data seems to indicate over two thousand five hundred years," Spock replied.

Kirk turned quickly. "How is that?" he asked.

Spock glanced at his station, seeking an answer that still wasn't there. "Analysis is still being run, Captain," he finally said, turning back to Kirk.

"He means, 'I don't know,'" McCoy offered helpfully from where he stood by the transporter door. "What are you going to do, Jim?" he asked, leaning forward, his hands on the railing separating the upper and lower deck of the bridge.

Frowning, Kirk's gaze returned to the view screen.

"Keptin, zere are no signs ov tacheon particlez," Chekov offered from Navigation. "Ze hullz are complete free ov any sign ov zem."

Kirk rubbed his chin. "What else have we learned?" he asked.

"There does seem to be a higher concentration of people in the Western cave systems," Spock supplied. "It does seem to be a pre-Industrial society."

Kirk's fingers played over his lips. "Have appropriate gear made up for an away team," he said, pushing himself up. "Spock, include yourself, McCoy—"

"I'd love to see the dragons, Captain," Sulu piped up from ConOps.

"—Mr. Sulu and a security officer," Kirk continued.

Spock's eyebrow quirked. "And yourself?" he asked.

Kirk grinned. "Of course," he said, moving to the turbolift.

A dragon flew in a lazy pattern in the sky above a fallow field. A shimmering sound broke the silence of natural sounds. Five figures in leather-like pants and close woven tunics appeared, turning outward when the shimmering stopped to raise boxy devices that disguised their tricorders.

"The settlement is five hundred meters that way, Captain," Spock said, pointing and setting his tricorder on his hip.

"Jim, Spock. We're playing civilians for now."

Spock's eyebrow flicked again. "Yes, sir," he said dryly.

Sulu's eyes remained mostly on the sky as they walked, following the path of the dragon intently. "I hope we get to see them up close," he said, excitement permeating his voice.

"You won't be seeing anything if you don't watch where you're going," McCoy pointed out, nudging Sulu as the man crossed his path.

Sulu grinned and resumed his place, unconcerned with the doctor's reproach or warning. His eyes continued to follow the path of the dragon's flight as it returned to the mountain above them. Once it was hidden, his eyes turned to the land, watching it. "It seems rather quite," he said. His eyes returned to the sky. "That doesn't look right, either," he said, pointing to the northeast.

The group turned to look. Overhead, formations of dragons rose from the cliffs and hovered a moment before vanishing. Just after, flames were visible in the silver cloud.

"What do you make of that, Spock?" Kirk asked, turning to more directly face the oncoming silver cloud and flame bursts.

"Phosphorous emissions, primarily," Spock replied, his eyes on his tricorder. "The cloud is not made of water vapor," he added. "It seems to be an organic spore, perhaps from the Oort matter dragged in by the rogue planet," he said, lowering his tricorder again.

Kirk drew his communicator out of his pocket, opening it with a chirp that echoed in the still air. "Kirk to Enterprise, Scotty?"

"Aye, Cap'in?" the Scottish engineer replied after a beat where Uhura patched through communications.

"I'd like a detailed analysis on the Oort Cloud material that is being dragged into this system."

"Aye, Cap'in, we'll ge' righ' on i'," came the crisp reply.

"Thank you, Mr. Scott. Kirk out." He closed the communicator with another chirp and slid it back into his pocket. He turned and started toward the shelter again, the others joining him, though Sulu continued to watch the sky.

There was a rush of wind from behind them. "Just what are you doing out here like a bunch of dimglows?" a voice asked from above and behind them.

The group turned as one to look up at the brown dragon creature behind them and the person seated just where the long neck joined the body. "We're not from around here," Kirk replied for the group.

The man ogled them. "Where have you been living? Between?" Another brown dragon landed behind him. "Two of you with me, the rest with him," he said, thumbing over his shoulder. "Be quick, before the leading edge gets here!"

"Captain, I believe it in our best in interest to go along with them," Spock said in a soto voce.

"Really?" McCoy asked as he passed onto the rear dragon with Sulu, who turned to walk almost backwards as he passed the first dragon, and the security officer.

"Spock, I already said call me 'Jim,'" Kirk said as he approached the dragon. He looked up, smiling again. "What is the best way to mount?" he asked. "It's been quite a while since I've ridden anything."

The man tossed the end of a rope connected to his belt. "Just climb up. We don't have all day. You could out talk a Harper," he grumbled, turning back to the sky with a frown.

Nonplussed, Kirk grabbed the rope and climbed up, Spock following him to setting in the dragon's neck ridges. He looked over and could see McCoy looking tolerantly amused and Sulu talking to the rider of the dragon they were on over his shoulder. The security office, Kirk really needed to get his name, didn't look very comfortable behind Sulu. His attention was brought back to the rider in front of him when the man raised his arm and the dragon beneath them gathered itself up before launching into the air with a powerful downsweep of its frail looking wings.

The sensation of flying on a creatures neck almost drew a laugh out of Kirk. Spock's eyebrow rose as he looked around, seemingly not holding on though he didn't move very much as the dragon left the ground and turned to head to the ledges of the extinct volcano above them.

"I'll drop you in the lower caverns. No sense in having you under foot with the injured dragons and men," the rider shouted to be heard over the wind, half turning to direct the words to his passengers.

Kirk leaned forward a little, wanting to make himself better heard. "May I ask what's going on?"

The man looked over his shoulder at the captain in utter disbelief. "Have you knocked yourselves Between recently?" he asked, aghast. "Twelve years into a Pass, and you'd think everyone would know," he muttered, the words almost lost to the wind.

Kirk looked over his shoulder to Spock. At the slight shake of his first officer's head, he turned back to see the dragon banking and then spiraling down into the bowl of the extinct caldera. Below them, a chaos of activity became more and more visible and distinct as they flew lower. Voices soon grew loud enough to hear over the wind, first the keening cries that had to come from the dragons at the far end of the bowl from where they were going to land. Soon, human voices, yelling commands and conversations. As soon as the dragon's feet touched the ground, the rider turned over his shoulder. "Off, I need to clear off. Swing your leg over and slide off."

Spock moved first, swinging his leg over the dragon's neck ridge easily and dropping to the ground. Kirk moved to follow him, though not quite as gracefully. He turned to thank the man only to find the dragon crouching for takeoff. He continued his turn, following Spock, who was already moving quickly to join the ring of observers. As he walked, Kirk noticed that most of the eyes were on him and his crew rather than on the magnificent beasts. He more felt than saw the other three join them. He turned a winning smile on the crowd. "Hello," he said, his hands up in greeting, to show he was unarmed.

A/N: This is a story I used to play with in my head when I was little (like between 8-11). I mentioned it to people in my livejournal and several were interested in actually reading it, so I am finally writing it, 22 years later ^^ I think it rather obvious that I do not own the characters but love them dearly.


	2. Chapter 2

Kirk surveyed the room—weyr, he corrected himself—with interest. Just outside the door, he could hear Sulu talking with one of their hosts, N'ton, about the great bronze dragon on the couch, Lioth. The lieutenant was asking myriads of questions about how the dragons flew and the stuff they'd seen falling from the sky, the Thread. McCoy had insisted on being taken to offer what assistance he could with those riders who were injured. Spock was examining one of the tapestries on the wall, his hands clasped lightly behind his back. They were awaiting the arrival of four other people, two other dragon riders, a lord holder and someone they referred to as 'Master Robinton.' Kirk hadn't quite understood his rank, but it seemed these four were the ones who governed the planet. With nothing else to do for the moment, Kirk rose from the chair at the end of the table where he'd been sitting and moved to stand by Spock.

"They seem to have a feudal government system," Spock said as Kirk came to stand behind him. "It would seem each of their weyrs and Holds would constitute a fief, which may mean that the Master Robinton they are waiting for would be the _de facto_ leader of the crafts."

Before Kirk could reply they could hear Sulu's voice and others moving closer to the room. "We'll talk more later," Kirk said, moving away to the center of the room. One was an older man dressed in a deep blue tunic and breeches, a knot of blue and white at his shoulder. Two, one tall man, one shorter woman, were dressed similarly to N'ton in leather clothing lined with fur, though the knots on their shoulders were black and red, his having bronze woven through it, hers with gold. The final man was a bit heavier than the others, his tunic and knots brown and yellow. Kirk smiled at them all, but especially at the woman, whom he figured to be Lessa.

Lessa frowned at him, but before she could say anything, the man in the blue shirt spoke, "Welcome. I am MasterHarper Robinton. This is Lord Holder Grohe and this is Benden's Weyrleader, F'lar, rider of bronze Mnementh, and Benden's Weyrewoman Lessa, rider of golden Ramoth."

"James Kirk, Captain of the Starship Enterprise. This is my first officer and science officer, Spock, Hikaru Sulu, our helmsman, and Richard Smitz, a member of our security team. Leonard McCoy is out helping—"

"Not any more. Very interesting pharmacopoeia." McCoy strolled into the room touching his thumb and forefinger to each other repeatedly. "Have this stuff called numbweed, best topical anesthetic I've seen." He looked up, smiling, his fingers still working. "McCoy is fine, a pleasure. I heard your names as I was coming in."

Robinton's smile grew as he watched McCoy's fingers. "Let us have a seat then, and something to drink, for I am sure there will be much to talk about and it wouldn't do for us to talk ourselves dry," he said, aiming a pleading gaze over his shoulder to Lessa.

A fond scowl crossed her face. "You'd drink a Wery dry before you talked yourself dry, Master Robinton," she said even as she moved to the round table, pulling a couple of pouches from her belt and setting them on the table.

"Only if it was a good Benden," Robinton replied good naturedly as he took the seat on Lessa's left. F'lar moved to her right, Grohe moving to Robinton's left as N'ton took the chair on F'lar's right.

"Who would serve you otherwise?" Lessa asked, pouring some into a cup that had been ready and waiting for the MasterHarper. She filled her glass and F'lar's before passing the sack over to a woman who entered the room silently. One the glasses were full and a plate of bread rolls was placed in the center of the table, the ten were left, the door closed quietly behind the help. Once everyone was seated, Lessa began, "So, you didn't know about the Thread?"

Kirk looked at Spock. The Vulcan began answering, "We have been studying your system for seventy-two of your hours. While not entirely common, a Sedna-class Oort cloud object intersecting the orbits of the inner planets is not unheard of. We were aware that it carried with it Oort cloud matter, but as no other system has proved Oort matter to be a threat to life, it was dismissed."

At the confused looks that traveled between the planetary five, Kirk added, "In our records, there is no other phenomenon like this..." he gestured to the sky, "...for us to believe it was a problem. But, as we travel the galaxy, we are finding many things that are outside our experience."

Robinton took a sip of his wine and sighed appreciatively. "There are Records that indicate the Ancients were aware the Red Star would approach but they did not know it would bring Thread," he mused.

"The Ancients?" Kirk asked. "The first settlers here?"

Robinton nodded. "This is the twelfth Turn of the Ninth Pass, so it would have been..." He paused a moment, calculating. "Twenty-five thousand Turns ago, roughly."

"Ninth pass?" Spock asked. "The Sedna object has a period of two hundred fifty years, not two hundred and seventy-seven."

Robinton nodded. "Yes, there have been two Long Intervals."

Spock's eyebrow flicked up and he fell silent.

"How did you know that it's two hundred fifty years from one Pass to the next?" Lessa asked.

Kirk held up a hand to forestall Spock's explanation. "Our equipment takes measurements of the current location, the direction of motion and a few other factors and plots the most likely orbit of an object and the length of time needed to complete that orbit. But, that didn't tell us about the...Thread, you called it?"

Lessa nodded but her scowl didn't lighten up.

F'lar reached over and touched her hand lightly. "So, there was no way for your equipment to tell you the Red Star would cause problems?"

Kirk shook his head. "As he said, there's no record of Oort material causing a problem with planets, but it is also rare for a object, other than a comet, which is rather small, to cross both the Oort or Kupier belt and the orbit of the inner planets."

"I understand the Oort cloud is outside our planets," Grohe said slowly, saying the words carefully, "but what is the Kupier belt?"

"The Oort cloud is like the shell of a solar system," Sulu began. "The Kupier belt is within that and on the same plane as the rest of the planets in the system, within about thirty degrees or so," he said, holding his hands up to illustrate, first wide, as if to hold a ball, then in curved shapes, closer together.

Lessa waved her hand, dismissing the information, though her eyes showed she understood it. "Why are you here now?" she asked.

Kirk shifted in his chair. "We are on an exploratory mission for the United Federation of Planets," he said.

"To find planets to colonize?" F'lar asked, his tone tense. A look passed between the five at the end of the table, lingering longer between Lessa and F'lar longer than the others.

"Only if they're uninhabited and show no signs that the indigenous life forms will develop into sentient beings," Kirk said, holding up his hands. "Planets that are not technologically advanced enough or on the verge of becoming so are observed. We do try to avoid influencing the natural development of a society of planet. If a planet has achieved space flight, they are evaluated for their readiness for a first contact and then invited to join the Federation of Planets, if they desire."

Robinton's lips quirked with amusement though his eyes were serious. "So, you were only here to observe?" he asked.

Kirk nodded. "That was our purpose, just to observe life here. There are...a few things about this system that do not seem to make sense," he said, hoping that one of their hosts might have an answer, but very doubtful. "The ships in orbit—"

"Ships?" Lessa demanded.

"There are ancient Records..." Robinton began, narrowing his eyes slightly at Kirk and giving a slight shake of his head.

Lessa turned on Robinton. "Why don't we know about these?" she demanded.

Robinton spread his hands, an apologetic expression on his face. "They are very old and have only been rediscovered with the exploration of Fort Weyr and Hold. Remarkably preserved, like much of the Ancient's Technology," he added, smiling at her. "If you'd like, after this meeting, I will show you what we have found."

"I think that would be a good idea," F'lar agreed. "If N'ton doesn't mind entertaining our guests."

Grohe shifted a little. "I should like to know more about these ships," he rumbled.

Robinton smiled broadly. "Then, you should join us, Grohe," he added easily before any of the guests could say anything. "The delay was only in trying to get enough copies out of Arnor so that you all might have one."

Lessa settled back into her chair mollified. She pinned a glare on Kirk. "Any other wherries you wish to stir up?" she demanded.

Kirk's eyes flicked to Robinton, obviously the diplomatic leader of this group. When he saw the man still had his lips pressed together, he smiled and said, "No, though I do admit to being curious about what your Records say, after you've had a chance to review them, of course."

"Tell me, Kirk," F'lar began, lifting his cup and leaning back in his seat. He gave the image of coiled power, waiting for a target for a quick, efficient attack. "How is it you know so much and so little at the same time?"

"If I may," Spock spoke up. At Kirk's gesture, he continued, "Our instruments are only able to pick up certain things: Physical objects, such as those ships, the animal and plant life on the planet, which allows us an approximate population count and locations of density, and the mineral composition of a planet. Without other methods of learning about your people, these are all we have to rely upon. This, then, leads to a distortion in our information, which is typically remedied by an away team mission to the planet. Were it not for the unexpected arrival of what you call Thread, it is highly likely that our visit would not have come to your attention and we would have left, noting that your planet was preindustrial and should be allowed its own development."

"How do we know you're not lying?" Lessa demanded.

Spock blinked. "It is against the beliefs of my people to lie," he said. "We do not lie."

"A well-known fact where we're from," McCoy said sourly. "Ma'am," he began, his tone sweetening, "As a Healer, that is the word you use here, I can assure you that we do not intend you any harm."

Robinton spoke before Lessa had a chance to gather herself for another volley. "So, you are saying that you just intended to assess where we are technologically and socially then leave? And, had it not been for the Threadfall this morning, we would have been none the wiser?" Amusement colored his tone and worked well for defusing the building tension in the room.

Kirk nodded. "This planet is well away from any known dangerous races, and it's resources are not such that it would attract them, either.

"In a way, I'm glad we were caught," Sulu said, his eyes shining. "I wouldn't have gotten to see your glorious dragons otherwise. I haven't seen anything like them before."

N'ton grinned. To Lessa and F'lar, he said, "He'd probably try to be a Candidate if he were younger. Very fond of flying and the dragons find him amusing."

Lessa's eyes went unfocused for a moment. "Ramoth says the same," she muttered.

Spock's eyebrow climbed his forehead. "The dragons are telepathic?" he asked, his tone, for those that knew him, carrying some surprise.

"They are able to bespeak their riders and others that they choose to acknowledge," F'lar said.

_We do not often meet those we wish to speak with_, a rich voice similar to F'lar's spoke directly into Spock's mind.

Spock's eyes widened, perceptable even to those who did not know him, both eyebrows up. "Fascinating," he said, his voice slightly unsteady.

"It would seem Mnementh is fond of you," F'lar said, his voice carrying some amusement. "Dragons are notoriously picky about whom they will bespeak."

Spock bowed slightly. "Then, I am honoured," he said, his tone recovered enough to reflect what he was saying.

"I would suggest, then, that we reconvene at the Harper Hall as I am sure N'ton has much to do," Robinton said, rising. "That is, if you don't mind," he said, turning to the dragon riders.

Lessa rose. "If N'ton doesn't mind helping us get them to the Hall," she said, turning to the man.

"That would be fine," N'ton replied.


	3. Chapter 3

Commander Scott crossed from the command chair over to Uhura's station? "Ane'thin', lassie?" he asked.

Uhura pressed a few buttons and held her fingers to the monitor in her ear a moment. "Nothing that helps us," she sighed, turning to look at Scott. "The historical information in the ships' computer banks is sketchy at best. The most complete information is the colony's charter, which sets them as independent from the central government and also relieves the central government of the obligation to support or trade with them. There is no mention of the Federation or anything else that is familiar. It mentions Earth, but they would have had to have left during the Iron Age and this technology is more current with what was available in the latter half of the twenty-first century." She pushed a button. "The last information that it seems they access from the data banks involves some advanced genetic engineering, something called 'meta-synth,' which seems to enhance telepathic ability," she said, her voice lilting with unanswered questions.

"Aye, lassie, canna expect ya ta find answers that arenna there ta find," he said, patting the back of her chair. He moved over to Chekov's position, temporarily at the science station while Mr. Spock was on the planet. "Ha'e ya found ane'thin'?" he asked.

Chekov moved away from the readout. "Zere is a zeory zat it may be possible to trawel back in time, but it requirez varp driwe. Zeze wessels do not hawe varp driwe, zo zey could not hawe traweled above light speed. Zey should have arrived vizin zee lazt tventy or zirty yearz."

Scotty frowned and then asked, "Ane progress on those wee eggs we brought in?"

Chekov pressed a few buttons on the console in front of him, bringing up xenobiology's reports. "Zey zay zat ze ovidz contain frozen gassez and zat ven brought to normal temperaturez, zere are zome type of mycorrhiza fungus zat is capable ov digesting carbon-based objectz."

"Sound like right nasty little beasties," Scott muttered. "Ane way to stop them?" he asked.

Chekov shrugged, raising his hands. "Mowe ze planet'z orbit?" he suggested.

Scott frowned. "There are limits to what the Enterprise can do, m'lad," he said. Abruptly, he asked, "Would a wormhole leave any traces we could detect?"

Chekov looked at him, confusion then understanding dawning on his face. "Zere hawe been zome zuggeztionz," he said slowly then gaining speed as he continued, "ov zee multiverze pozziblee connecting zrough vurmholez. It vould alzo be pozzible for zat connection to be to anozer point in time." He turned back to the monitors. "Zere vill need to be more teztz," he muttered, manipulating the dials as he watched the screen intently.

"Mr. Scott, it's the Captain," Uhura said, cutting across anything else he might have said to Chekov.

"Put 'im through," he said, then waited a beat. "Aye, Cap'in?"

"Any progress, Mr. Scott?"

"Some, Cap'in. The ovoids contain a type of mycorrhiza fungus and frozen gasses. Mr. Chekov is working on a theory that the ships traveled through a wormhole from a parallel universe."

There was a pause. "A parallel universe, Mr. Scott?"

"Aye, Cap'in. It would fit th' evidence tha' we are findin'. Their records hold no information o' the Federation and advanced genentic techniques they refer ta as 'meta-synth,' which seems ta enhance telepathy. 'twould also explain th' lack 'o warp drive and lack o' records and why they were here so long before they should'a been."

"Is there any mention of meta-synth in our records?" Kirk asked

Scotty looked at Uhura, who shook her head, then to Chekov, whose head shake was distracted. "No' tha' we can find here, Cap'in."

"Thank you, Mr. Scott. We'll contact you again soon. Kirk out." He closed his communicator and slid it back into his pocket. "Well?" he asked, turning to face the other members of his away team. They were now gathered in a slightly smaller, but far more open room. Windows, the metal shutters of which were wide open, let in light, air and the sound of choral practice from across the square.

McCoy stood, with his arms crossed, listening to the practice session. "Sounds like they managed to create a vaccine and initiate a mass immunization program with the level of technology we've seen. That is quite impressive," he said, approval in his voice. "If that song is a history lesson," he added, turning to face Kirk.

"It would be a most logical method of preserving history on a planet where paper is a rarity," Spock said, still looking across the courtyard, his hands behind his back. "Though, the descant doesn't sound like an instrument," he murmured.

"Those are fire lizards," Robinton said as he entered the room again. "And, the Ballad of Moreta's ride is a record of events of the Sixth Pass."

Spock raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"A thousand years ago?" Kirk asked. "That is impressive. We have, sadly, lost a lot of our verbal history. There are a few who study it. Our communications officer is one. I'm sure she'd love to come down and listen," he added, almost reaching for his communicator.

Robinton held up his hand. "As much as I'd personally love to meet your Harper, I do wonder if it wise," he said. "One of the lessons of Moreta's ride is to be cautious with those that are new, unfamiliar."

Kirk nodded. "Of course," he said, his hand coming to rest by his side. "I understand your concern. As McCoy can tell you, we do take precautions to prevent the spread of illness."

Robinton moved to the table in the center of the room, sitting at one of the chairs that allowed him to look out the windows, his eyes on the sky. "There are more illnesses than of the body. We are in a changing Turn, especially since the Long Interval. Much has happened to upset the hidebound. Even those who are more flexible do have limits on how much they're able to adapt to in a short time." He smiled at Kirk, looking at the other members of the away team in turn. "It has long fallen to the HarperHall to spread information and to help guide the minds of the people. In the Long Interval, our Craft fell into disfavor because we continued to teach about Threadfall and the Hold's duty to dragon riders, a state it is now recovering from since Threadfall began. While our place is more stable, would it be wise for me to threaten that position by pushing for more changes than people can accept?" he asked mildly.

Kirk opened his mouth to respond and closed it again. He smiled ruefully. "I can appreciate your position," he said. "Is this why you came to speak to us alone?" he asked.

Robinton laughed a little, the laugh becoming more pronounced when a bronze blur flew into the room and chided him, landing on the raised center of the table. When the creature's eye ridges were stroked, it settled.

"Dragons come in that size, too?" Sulu asked, entranced, taking a step forward.

"Zair is a fire lizard. The dragons will admit some relation, but how has been lost to time," Robinton replied, fondness for the creature in his voice even as he answered Sulu's question. He turned his eyes to Sulu. "If you'd like, he likes his eye ridge scratched," he said.

With a quick glance at Kirk, Sulu crossed the room, pausing when he reached the table. Slowly, he reached his hand out to the fire lizard, his eyes half-closed in pleasure. When Sulu's finger touched his eye ridge, Zair pressed into his touch, not allowing Sulu's touch to remain tentative. An entranced smile broke out on his face.

Robinton chuckled. "If we didn't need every egg we could find right now..." he said, letting the offer trail off.

Sulu shook his head, still grinning. "Probably wouldn't like our ship," he said with some regret.

"Are the others coming in?" McCoy asked from where he was leaning on the wall near one of the windows. "Or are you our farewell party?" he continued, pushing himself upright.

"F'lar and Lessa are busy. Fall's due in Benden tomorrow. Lord Grohe has much to do, ensuring the smooth operation of his Hold."

Spock moved to stand just behind Kirk. "It would follow that you, yourself, also would have much to do," he said.

Smitz moved into place silently as Sulu reluctantly stopped petting Zair. "Please, express our gratitude," he said, smiling a little sadly at Robinton.

Robinton returned the smile. "You probably would have made a great dragon rider," he said. He looked at them curiously, arrayed as they were in his office, two before, three behind. "How will you leave?" he asked, sitting up a little straighter.

Kirk reached for his communicator, flipping it open and twisting the dial. "The way we arrived," he said. "Mr. Scott, five to beam up." A high pitched whine filled the room, startling Zair to flight again, and the figures dissolved, leaving nothing behind them.


	4. Chapter 4

Kirk, Spock, Sulu and McCoy went to the bridge after changing, Spock arriving first, then Sulu, who still wore a wistful expression as he stared at the viewscreen. Though they were behind one of the moons to keep from being seen, it still showed the planet below, unobstructed. Kirk took his chair from Scott, who seemed more than willing to relinquish it and McCoy stood on the upper deck.

"Were you able to find out anything, Mr. Scott?" Kirk asked as he sat, taking a PADD from the yeoman and looking over it.

"We ha' a theory, sir, bu' wi'out much hope o' provin' it. If those ships traveled through a wormhole, we can'na find an' radiation signatures that woul' tell us. They're sublight vessels, so no tachyon radiation."

"Ze only zing ve found vaz zeir record of Earth'z hiztory waz zomevhat different," Chekov supplied. "But, zat could juzt be who vaz recording it. Zere iz no mention ov ze Federation."

Kirk handed the PADD back to the yoeman and turned to Spock. "Well?" he asked of his science offers.

Spock straightened from being bent over his instruments, a posture he'd taken as soon as Chekov returned his station to him. "That would be a reasonable theory, Captain," he replied.

Kirk rested his hands on the arms of his chair. "Are you saying, Mr. Spock, that we may never know the answer?" he asked, a note of teasing in his voice.

Spock turned, his hands behind his back, a eyebrow slightly raised. "No, Captain. I am saying at this point in time, our understanding of the Universe or the multiverse does not offer us a method of confirming or disputing the theory scientifically. Logically, the theory is valid with our current level of understanding."

Kirk smiled at his half-Vulcan first officer, knowing that his teasing had been accepted and returned. He turned to the helm. "While I know it isn't a dragon, Mr. Sulu, do you mind taking us out of here, warp factor 1?"

Sulu looked over his shoulder. "I wouldn't insult the Enterprise by comparing her to the dragons, even if they are magnificent," he said solemnly. He turned back to his station, "They can't fly through space," he added with a grin as his fingers worked laying in their course.

**roll credits**

A/N: I got a comment on some of my science regarding thread...I blame internet research. Had I taken the time to actually reread DragonsDawn, this story would have been more delayed than it was :/


End file.
